following the storm over his election as an Opposition MP. The move was announced yesterday by Progressive Labour Party leader Mr. Frederick Wade.

Mr. Hall immediately took a swipe at reports Dr. Brown's election in Warwick West may have breached the Bermuda Constitution. And he said he had copies of two written opinions by Attorney General Mr. Elliott Mottley on the subject.

In them, Mr. Mottley made it clear the Supreme Court would be unlikely to uphold a challenge over the validity of Dr. Brown's election, said Mr. Hall.

There was even a question mark over whether the court had the jurisdiction to deal with the matter. Mr. Hall added one of Mr. Mottley's letters had been sent to Cabinet on June 12, the other to the Speaker of the House the Hon.

Ernest DeCouto 16 days later. He refused to send copies of the opinions to The Royal Gazette , accusing the paper of generating the Brown controversy.

"I think it is the duty of Government to release the opinion it received.'' He added: "What surprises me is the fact that this opinion was in hands of Premier, obviously as early as the date of June 12 ... yet he's said nothing about the contents of that opinion. He has not even revealed such opinion has been delivered.'' The Brown controversy erupted on June 8 following a Royal Gazette report which stated his victory in the 1993 general election apparently breached Bermuda's Constitution.

Dr. Brown, a longtime California resident and physician, obtained US citizenship in 1990. The Constitution says that anyone who has pledged allegiance to a foreign power is ineligible to seek election as an MP.

Since the article appeared, Bermuda lawyers have offered conflicting opinions on whether Dr. Brown is in breach of the Constitution. Last week, the Rules and Privileges Committee of the House of Assembly met for more than an hour to discuss Dr. Brown's eligibility. Afterwards, Mr. DeCouto said another meeting was planned. Mr. Wade and Shadow Works Minister Mr. Walter Roberts plan to attend it. Mr. Wade has stated only the Supreme Court can rule on the eligibility of an MP and Mr. DeCouto was acting outside his powers in calling a meeting of the Rules and Privileges Committee to consider the matter.

Mr. DeCouto cited the broad wording of Rule 51(4)(c) of the Rules of the House of Assembly, which states: "The Rules and Privileges Committee shall have the duty of considering and reporting on such matters relating to the Rules or appearing to affect the powers and privileges of the House as the Committee may deem to require consideration.'' Yesterday, Mr. Wade said: "From the outset the PLP has maintained that the election of Dr. Brown does not represent a violation of the Bermuda Constitution.

"Consequently any questions regarding the validity of his position, we continue, to state, must be dealt with by the Supreme Court.

"After further study the party is firmly convinced that the efforts of the Speaker and the Rules and Privileges Committee to deal with the situation offends both the Rules of the House and the Bermuda Constitution. The principle that the tyranny of the majority against the minority must be guarded against is offended by the Speaker's attempt to use the majority in the House of Assembly to determine who should sit there.''